Boyer Coe has always been a phenomenon in bodybuilding. Her started training at 14 back in the 1960’s and by the time he was 17 he could bench 420 pounds. That is an impressive feat. Even more remarkable than that was how well he did in the bodybuilding world even though he was only 5′ 7″. In his prime he tipped the scales at 215 pounds.

He won the Mr. America and Mr. Universe titles and even made a run at the Masters Olympia when he was in his 40s. To say that he has quite a bit of functional bodybuilding knowledge would be a bit of an understatement.

These are some of his best tips and bits of information learned over the years within the health and fitness realm.

Coe’s Training Secrets

Please keep in mind Boyer didn’t think any of these were secrets. He always had an open mind about using new methods and trying different things. But a method of training he developed for himself was called WCT or work-capacity-training.

Start by warming up on an exercise doing let weight sets and pyramiding up in weight until you reach a weight that is a struggle to get 12 reps with.

Do a set of 12 reps with strict form going slow on the positive and negative movements.

This program combines a few training principles. It has some factors of endurance training such as 5 x 5 training but also incorporates drop sets. Because of this is should be working both fast and slow twitch fibers within the same session.

Typically Coe would do only exercises per bodypart and then just use these 4-set drops on each exercise. This is definitely a high intensity routine that only an intermediate or advanced lifter should try because of the amount of fiber recruitment and damage it will cause and thus recovery ability that will be needed. Boyer would also reduce the warm-up sets as the workout progressed because the muscles, joints, and tendons were already warm after one or two of these quadruple drops.

Looking Back

It appears that he has taken principles from Arthur Jones and his High Intensity style of training and merged it with a more classic style of lifting. The combination seems effective and the initial high rep range would be much safer for joints which would be beneficial to any bodybuilder or lifter in his 40s and beyond. Based on Coe’s background and experience it seems that this routine was developed to factor in what he learned along with his age for maximum results. The WCT method deserves to be dusted off and tossed back in the ring because it has had impressive results before and can help shape your physique for the future.